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4INFO Grabs $14M

2011-10-27
Mobile advertising, technology, and media company raised an additional $14M in financing led by Paul G. Allen's Vulcan Capital, Mitsui Global Investment, and existing investors Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Gannett, Mezzanine Capital, and U.S. Venture Partners.
SAN MATEO, CA, 4INFO, a diversified mobile advertising, technology, and media company, announced today that it has raised an additional $14 million in financing led by Paul G. Allen's Vulcan Capital, Mitsui Global Investment, and existing investors Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Gannett, Mezzanine Capital, and U.S. Venture Partners. The capital will allow 4INFO to continue to expand its newly formed AdHaven division, offering the industry's first mobile audience platform.

4INFO also announced that AdHaven will spin out as a separate division focused solely on mobile advertising technology and sales, with a new Web site at http://www.adhaven.com . This division will continue development of the AdHaven Mobile Audience Platform, data and channel partnerships, and the AdHaven Audience Network. With the most advanced targeting and data capabilities available in the mobile industry, AdHaven is the first platform to bridge the gap between offline, online, and mobile. AdHaven is also the only platform that can serve 360-degree mobile advertising campaigns across the mobile Web, rich media, mobile video, applications, tablets, and SMS.

"AdHaven's scalable audience and behavioral targeting is a breakthrough for the mobile advertising industry," said Stuart Nagae, Partner at Vulcan Capital, who will be joining 4INFO's board of directors. "We believe that advanced targeting is the future of the mobile advertising industry, and that AdHaven will pave the way."

The newly-formed AdHaven division will also be responsible for continued integration with a growing list of platform partners seeking to bridge the identification gap between online and mobile, including consumer data partners, publishers, app developers, inventory exchanges, demand side platforms (DSPs), supply side platforms (SSPs), trading desks, real-time-bidding (RTB), and other inventory and ad-sources.

"It is time for the mobile advertising industry to catch up with the targeting and data capabilities that media buyers demand from online advertising," said Zaw Thet, CEO, 4INFO. "This is the future of mobile, what we call mobile 2.0, because it forces everyone to rethink mobile advertising. With AdHaven, we bring the first real audience targeting to the mobile ecosystem through proprietary partnerships with leading publishers, ad-sources, inventory providers, and online and offline data providers. This makes advanced audience and behavioral targeting and analytics in mobile as easy as it is on the Web."

About 4INFO

Founded in 2004, with a consistent track record of innovation and reliability, 4INFO is a diversified mobile advertising, media, and technology company that reaches millions of mobile consumers daily and touches them billions of times a month. AdHaven by 4INFO, recently spun out as its own division, is the industry's first mobile audience platform and network. The AdHaven Mobile Audience Platform includes a next-generation mobile ad server with the most advanced targeting capabilities in the mobile advertising industry, and the AdHaven Audience Network. 4INFO originated the first mobile optimized search engine for SMS, and still offers an array of consumer services and an enterprise-class SMS publishing platform. 4INFO is headquartered in San Mateo, CA, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston. Learn more at http://www.4info.com .

About AdHaven by 4INFO

AdHaven, a division of 4INFO, is rethinking mobile advertising with an innovative approach centered on mobile audiences that enables true audience targeting at scale. The AdHaven Mobile Audience Platform includes a next-generation mobile ad server, audience and data management platform, and analytics platform that combine to deliver the most advanced targeting and highest ROI in the mobile advertising industry. AdHaven partners with the world's leading data providers, inventory exchanges, and ad-sources to bridge the gap between mobile inventory and online advertising spend. Publishers and app developers use AdHaven to sell and manage mobile inventory or optimize revenue. The AdHaven Audience Network serves targeted mobile ads for the world's top agencies and brands like Ford, Universal Pictures, KFC, Kmart, Amtrak, and Proctor & Gamble. Premium publishers include brands such as Gannett, CBS, NBC, Discovery Channel, Yahoo!, AOL, the National Basketball Association, IAC, E!, and The Weather Channel. 4INFO, the parent company of AdHaven, has been at the forefront of mobile innovation since 2004 and is headquartered in San Mateo, CA, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston. Learn more at http://www.adhaven.com .

About Vulcan Capital

Vulcan Capital was formed in 2003 and is headquartered in Seattle, WA. The firm serves as the investment arm of Vulcan Inc., the organization founded by Paul G. Allen in 1986 to manage his philanthropic and business endeavors. Vulcan Capital's investment activities include direct investing in public and private securities as well as indirect investments in traditional and alternative asset classes. Vulcan Capital's current portfolio spans a range of industry sectors, including media and communications, energy and natural resources, financial and information services, technology, and life sciences. For more information, please visit http://capital.vulcan.com .

About Mitsui & Co., Ltd.

Utilizing its global operating locations, network, and information resources, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. is multilaterally pursuing business that ranges from product sales, worldwide logistics and financing, through to the development of major international infrastructure and other projects in the following fields: Iron and steel products, mineral and metal resources, infrastructure projects, motor vehicles, marine and aerospace, chemicals, energy, foods & retail, consumer services, information, electronics and telecommunications, financial markets, and transportation logistics. The company is based in Tokyo, Japan.
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